Tent construction



Dec. 27, 1932. s. E. BERNSTEIN TENT CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 21, 192ePatented Dec. 27, 1932 UNITED STATES PATEN T ori-ICE TENT CONSTRUCTIONApplication led February 21,1923. Serial No.`256,032.

This invention relates to an enclosure in the nature of a tent and morespeciiically to a tent-like structure adapted to enclose a bedunsupported other than by said bed.

In sleeping out of doors whether the person be well or sick, there hasalways been considerable ditliculty and inconvenience. The presentinvention will dispense with the necessity for an attendant and willalleviate or obviate the aforesaid diiiiculties or inconveniences. Tostate a few of these, I may mention that previous devices do not keepout wind or rain and they require expensive or clumsy supports which arein the way and often themselves cause damage by falling down or beingblown or knocked down. This invention eliminates all such and reducesthe expense as well as providing a simple structure admirably adaptedeii'ectively to perform the functions for which it was intended.

Among the objects and advantages of the present invention are: theprovision of a simple, inexpensive tent-likestructure requiring nospecial or extra supports; the provision of a tent-like structureweatherproof in all respects; the provision of a tent-like structurepermitting easy ingress and egress and also communication beyond thesame; the provision of means to detachably connect the sections of thestructure blanket-like when not in use or for egress for a considerabletime; the provision of means to p-ermit egress without completelyseparating the sections but merely by raising a tent-fiy-like portionprovided by two intersecting lines of separation, and the provision of aflexible light device entirely operable by the person therewithin.

For the attainment of the foregoing objects and such other objects asmay hereinafter appear or be pointed out, I have illustrated thepreferred embodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawingwherein: Y v

Figure l is a perspective view of the invention in the position itoccupies while in use;

Figure 2 is a perspective viewvof the invention when the portions areseparated and one throughout the several views.

portion is pushed back blanket-like, a part being broken away to showthe 'back piece; and v Figure 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Figure j 1looking in the direction of the arrows.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts UponV referring to the drawing,it will be seen that the invention relates to a tent-likeV enclosure fora bed. The bed' itself is desigf' nated by the numeral ll and ispreferably of the hospital type as shown although any bed or otherarticle of furniture designed to receive an occupant such as a chair,lounge,

recliner or the like may be used which has ai raised hea-d and footportion.

The enclosure consists generally of a top2, sides 3 and 4, back 5, andfront 6, but has preferablyy no bottom. If desired, however,v a bottommember or partition underneath the bed could be used to keep thedampness or coldness of the floor, ground, etc. from the occupant. Thepreferred material is canvas or sail cloth which has the flexibility andstrength desired. It has, moreover, the ability to keep ott' wind, rain,snow, etc. effectively. If desired, other materials couldbe used andrubber or rubberized fabric, khaki,

etc. are contemplated. In summer or in hot climates` thinner cloth ofany suitable kind is practicable such as cotton.I linen, duck, etc.

VIt may be colored or decorated in any suitable manner, if so desired.

In the embodiment shown, the enclosure is in two portions, a headportion and a foot portion, so-called for obvious reasons. Although notabsolutely necessary, it isy preferred to secure these portions to therespective parts of the bed to prevent accidental displacement either bythe occupant, anattendant. or the elements.V At 7 are shown pairs ofeyelets through which a string or cord is passed in a manner to encirclethe adacent part of the bed and then tied tightly to hold the enclosureto the bed; The head portion and the foot portion are detachably joined, as shown, on the top and the two sides by a double row ofvautomobile hooks or turn buttons 9 and eyelets l0. A single row could beused but the purpose of the double row lOO will be apparent hereinafter.Also, other types of fasteners could be used, such as snap fasteners,there being no difference in the operation or effect.

At this point it will be clear that the foot portion may be usedblanket-like so to speak; that is, it can be detached and pushed orthrown to the foot of the bed forming wrinkles or folds, as desired, andthen at any time it can be drawn or pulled up again and fastened to thehead section. The hole 8 is provided to allow air to circulate so thatfoul air will not be breathed within the enclosure. This hole alsoenables the occupant to fasten the hooks and eyes together more readilyas is apparent. If desired, however, the hole 8 may be covered withnetting to keep out insects or even with glass or Celluloid.

There is a reinforcement or flap 11 sewed under the edge of the footportion, as shown, by the line of stitching 12. The flap extends underthe edge of the top and both sides of said foot portion. The out outportion 13 is provided so as not to cover up any part of the hole 8. Thedistance of the transverse cut from the head and foot portions may bealtered to suit any particular conditions but is generally nearer thehead than the foot of the bed so as to have the fasteners within easyreach of the occupant of the enclosure. Figure 8 clearly illustrates howthe connection fastens the head and foot sections together and how thereinforcement or flap 11 cooperates therewith to provide a Weatherproofjoint permitting no entrance within the enclosure of any of the elementssuch as wind. ram, or snow.

It will be observed that there is another connection or joint runninglongitudinally .of the enclosure for a part of the distance andintersecting the previously mentioned connection or oint. Thisconnection may be like the other connection in the manner of the out andfasteners or it may be a flapcovered slit as shown. v This may be oneither or both sides or ends as required but is preferably on a side sothat the hereinafter mentioned features will be most effective in use.Along the side 4- is a slit 14 which is just above the level of the bedand which extends the length of the head portion and part of the lengthof the foot portion, although this latter could be omitted altogether.In order to make this slit weatherproof, a i'iap 15 is sewed just aboveso that it hangs over the slit. The flap may be fastened to theenclosure where the edge overlaps and at 16 are shown such fastenerswhich may be conventional snap fasteners. There may be one or more asdesired and the fasteners serve also to prevent the portions below theslit from falling to the floor when t e enclosure is open as in Figure2. The head and foot portions are there shown in an unnatural positionto illustrate the use for in fact the portions would yield to the forceof gravity in an obvious manner, the foot portion resting on the bed andthe head portion hanging downwardly from the fastenings 7. In Figure 1,a corner of the flap 15 is shown raised to reveal the slit 14 thereundermore clearly.

Although it is thought that the` uses and operation of the inventionwill be understood from the foregoing, it may be well to state some ofthem at this point. Let us first assume that the occupant has just leftthe enclosure after an occupancy or a rest there-4 in. The parts will beas seen in Figure 2 except that they will drop down, as explained above,by their weight. The rows of hooks and eyelets have been opened and thefoot portion has been pushed back blanket-like towards the foot of thebed. The best procedure inl separating the portions is for the occupantto reach through the hole 8 to turn the hooks nearest the hole. Thiswill permit a hand to be readily inserted between the portions wherethey overlap and the rest of `the hooks to be opened quickly and easilyon the top and both sides. The foot section is then pushed back in amanner now clear. The occupant can then readily leave the enclosure andthis procedure is usually followed where the occupant leaves for aconsiderable time. Upon returning, the reverse operations are carriedout to maire the enclosure ready for undisturbed occupancy: the footportion is drawn up and the hooks on the sides are pressed through theeyelets and the hooks turned. The hooks on top are then fastenedproceeding from each side toward the hole 8. The last hooks may befastened by reaching one hand through the hole, the other hand ,pressingfrom within the enclosure. The enclosure is now ready for u se. Suppose,however, that the occupant wishes to obtain something on a table outsidethe enclosure but near the bed as is often the case or perhaps someonewishes to hand something in to the occupant. The occupant merely needsto extend a hand through the slit 14 to receive the article. This actwill displace the iiap 15 which will drop down again when the hand iswithdrawn thus providing a weatherproof means of communication. Eitherpart of the slit may be used.

vIf snap fasteners are used, they can merely be separated by a slightpulling apart of the halves. When the enclosure is closed up the openingof said fasteners will bring about no inconvenience as the portions ofthe side et below the slit cannot drop much or at all due to thepresence of the hooks and eyelets in juxtaposition thereto. the hooksand eyelets shown are merely illustra-tive as they may obviously belocated wherever desire l. The slit may be closed by hooks and eyeletssuch as 9 and 10 and in that case are so positioned that the heads ofThe positions of q the hooks are inside so that they can be operatedfrom within the enclosure.

An importa-nt use of the invention will now be explained wherein theoccupant may easily leave the enclosure temporarily or for a short timewithout opening up the head and foot sections and thus letting in thewind or cold etc. It will be observed that the slit in the side 4 of thehead port-ion only may be independently opened. The occupant needsmerely to open any snaps or hooks thereon and thus a tent-iiy-lilreportion will be provided which may be raised to permit egress. It anyJfasteners 9 and 10 are closed and need to be opened one pair or morecan be opened also. This will allow the occupant to push open a shortright-angled section of material bounded horizontally by the slit 14 inthe side 4 of the head portion and vertically by the section of materialbetween the slit and the top of the side portion. This section may thusbe raised out of the way and the occupant can then leave the enclosure,the said section dropping back into place when the hand is removedtherefrom. Upon returning` to the enclosure, this section may be Vraisedto permit the occupant to enter the enclosure again whereupon any openedfasteners are re-fastened.

It will thus be clear that aV simple and convenient enclosure isprovided needing no supports other than the bed. Rods could be insertedin longitudinal pockets in the top 2 ii' desired but the same are notrequired as the enclosure fits snugly and does not sag un duly. Anyundesired sag of thek material can be taken up by manipulation of thefastenings 7 to place more tension on the material. A little sag mayeven be desirable as the air space will be reduced and the hole 8brought more nearly opposite to the face of the occupant. Excellentoperation has been experienced in using this device and no supportshave, other than the bed, been required. The

' material may be cleaned or laundered without diliculty also.

character described, a head and a foot section, means for detachablyuniting said sec- All the above matters are intended to be moreillustrative than limitative so that I do not limit myself theretoexcept as contained in the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A tent adapted to enclose a bed and supported solely thereby,comprising two sections, a head section secured to the head of the bedand a foot section secured to the foot of the bed, means for detachablyconnecting the two sections along a. line nearer the head than the footof the bed, one of said sections having a Ventilating aperture, and saidtent having means for communicating with the outside.

2. In a flexible tent-like structure of the

